


Overdose

by CelticPhoenixProductions



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Celebrity Breakdown, Depression, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Fame, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Klara and Gloria Friendship, Marnie/Gloria if you squint, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Post-Canon, Redemption, Rehabilitation, Rivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:41:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25301779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticPhoenixProductions/pseuds/CelticPhoenixProductions
Summary: Being on top of the world can be more than a little exhausting. Luckily for Klara, she's found an exit that's both expedient and beneficial in the long-term. Play her cards right and she'll be on an Alolan beach sipping on exotic drinks before nightfall. This little ruse should be a piece of cake, right?...Right?
Relationships: Kurara | Klara & Yuuri | Gloria, Mary | Marnie/Yuuri | Gloria
Kudos: 15





	Overdose

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the second installment of "Crazy weird ideas my friend has egged me on to write from games I technically haven't played." Luckily, this time I've played more than one Pokemon game, so I know the universe well enough, and I've watched a full playthrough of Sword, including the Isle of Armor DLC, so I've got plenty to work with.
> 
> Part of this stems from the two of us bouncing ideas back and forth about what life in Galar would be REALLY like if it were a 'real-life' setting, namely how gym leaders would be more like traditional celebrities, warts and all. We have dozens of ideas for that, mind you, that I've been meaning to make a video about, but for now you can kinda get a taste for that rendition of Galar's elite with our dear Klara here. And she's a considerably... tame case study.
> 
> Enjoy!

Klara fluttered her eyes. Perfect mascara, as always.

She ran down her list, appraising herself in the mirror from every angle. Her appeal was vested so much in her appearance and she knew it. If her eyeshadow didn’t wow from every direction, her fans would notice.

Not that it would matter too much longer; this was a mask designed to be torn off, so to speak. No setting spray, super glossy lipstick, and her favorite eyeliner that she never had the opportunity to wear because it ran too easily. Had she let one of the show’s staff apply her makeup they’d be appalled, because just ten minutes on stage would leave her sweating through her cosmetics.

But that was okay, because today she’d be having her celebrity breakdown.

The decision was one made only a few weeks back but had been set in motion for _months_ beforehand. To be frank, Klara was stressed. She had garnered quite a following since her time on the Isle of Armour, though to her chagrin much of that had been kickstarted by Gloria. This girl had just shown up to the dojo, humiliated Klara, and swept her victories out from under her feet in the span of a week.

Sure, it turned out Gloria was actually Galar’s champion, the thorough trouncing had made more sense after Klara learned that, but it didn’t mean the burns hurt less. If anything, the fact that Gloria was so… _friendly_ made it sting more. It’d be different if she had gloated in Klara’s face, but even the sarcastic jibes thrown her way were muted with good-natured smiles. She even invited Klara to meet her little hangers-on, like they were good buddies and Klara was being brought into the friends’ group. And to top it all off, everyone in that group was just as saccharine as Gloria! Well, except fairy boy, he didn’t bother trying.

It was _infuriating_ , but after Gloria had learned about her struggling influencer career, she’d started speaking about her “new favorite pop album”. Overnight Klara’s numbers exploded, and she found herself swarmed in fans, to the point that hosting a single three-hour livestream paid her rent for a month. Now, two years, two new albums and two million followers later, Klara was living on top of the world.

Or at least one would think.

It was _exhausting_ , more than she’d ever assumed. Constant attention, constant pressure for new content, constant calls for appearances. Even when she slept, she dreamed of the stage and just the constant _noise_. She reached out to Gloria a couple of times, because _obviously_ Galar’s champion _had_ to have some tips for dealing with it, but the two had become so busy disparate of each other that trying to hold a conversation longer than a few sentences was impossible. The only tip Gloria had managed to impart was “Take a Vacation.”

Easier said than done, Klara had snarked. Gloria had a season and a constant flow of casual challengers to keep her fame alive. For a performer like Klara, even with her middling success as a Pokémon trainer, keeping her lifestyle required constant attention. If you don’t keep up regular streams and appearances and releases you fade into obscurity.

That was, unless, there was a public breakdown.

A good celebrity breakdown resulted in mountains of media attention. The celebrity would disappear from the limelight in order to ‘take stock’ of things. Then, a year or so later, they’d pop up out of the blue and begin a revival tour, having come to ‘appreciate what really matters’, and gradually they’d not only recoup any losses from that time but also garner a new following of people that ‘respect’ them for taking time for themselves and shedding themselves of their impurities.

Klara snorted. This would be the _best_ vacation of her life. A year of peace and quiet, sampling all sorts of… _delicacies_ , and when she got back bigger stardom than she’d had before.

Giving her hair a good fluffing, she made sure the bags under her eyes were still hidden. They were, but there was a slight droop to her lids; a dead giveaway to her dwindling energy reserve. Why hadn’t she become an electric trainer, she could have just had one of her Pokémon jolt her awake. Well, not that it mattered, she had poison’s solution to this problem for sure.

Taking out her compact, she popped it open and removed a small bag of white powder from inside. In a blink she’d pinched out a line of the dust onto her mirror and pressed it to her nose, the synthetic snow vanishing into her nostril a second later. Almost immediately the firmness returned to her eyelids and the pink of her hair became more vivid in the mirror. She brushed off her nose and packed her supplies away.

She was probably pushing her luck with it, this was the third line she’d had all day, one for her wake up, one as a pick-me-up after her morning exercise, and now one to get her through the interview and bolster her acting. But it was such a good tool to get her through a tough day, and today would be the last tough day for a while. After that she could relax and she wouldn’t need it. She’d just dwindle down what supply she had gradually over the next few days. Make it last, unless something stressful came up while she was taking a break.

Now properly fueled, she stood, slipping on her fur coat. It would be hot as hell on stage, but it was a signature of hers, so she couldn’t just leave it behind.

And now she waited, pressing her forefinger into her palm while idling in the wings of the studio as the vapid host prattled about who knows what. What was her name again? They all blurred together after a while. Klara leaned around and caught a glimpse of “Gillian” on the backboard of the stage. Good, she didn’t want to embarrass herself. Oh, well, she _did_ , but looking stable at first was… well, not _normal_ for a celebrity breakdown, but Klara didn’t want to burn a bridge she didn’t have to.

“You know her, you love her…”

Klara perked. This was her cue.

“…it’s not butterflies in your stomach, that’s just the poison! Welcome to our next guest, Klaraaaa!”

Klara smiled and took a wide step onto the carpet, giving a smile and two enthusiastic waves to the audience. She approached the host’s desk where three chairs were arranged. Gillian, a middle-aged woman with well-hidden crow’s-feet and thinning blond hair, Klara vaguely remembered her name now. She took the woman’s hand, giving it a languid shake, the woman’s bony fingers like twigs under Klara’s calluses. Greetings out of the way, Klara plopped down into the nearest chair, wearing that plastic smile the whole way through.

“Welcome back Klara, it’s felt like forever since we’ve had you on here.”

Klara blinked. She’d been on this show before? Whatever, she could skirt this.

“It’s good to be back, and I know what you mean. The touring circuit is just exhausting. I left my apartment this morning and it feels like five years have gone by.”

There was a slight bump in noise from the audience, laughter she hoped. It was always hard to tell on sets, contrary to what people thought. You don’t need random audience chatter winding up on the recording with the host and guests. That’s why audiences had their own mics over them, so producers can control what ‘ooh’s and ‘ahhh’s can be heard.

“So, this new album of yours, _Venom Drip_ , this is your…”

“Third album,” Klara chimed. “I know, it gets confusing with all of the singles. A few of them are on there, actually, remasters if you can believe it. The sound team ended up doing a great job.”

“Would that include your collab with Roxie from Unova? Oh…” Gillian snapped her fingers. “I’m drawing a blank, what was the name?”

“ _Antivenom_ , and yep, the album is _Venom Drip,_ you’d think it’d be incomplete without it. In fact…” Klara bit her lip. This was always the most fun part of promoting; teasing people on something that was yet to come. “I think fans of that collab with be _very_ happy with the album for more than just that one song…”

This time she heard the ‘Oooh’s from the audience clearly. Perfect, just the reaction she’d get. If she could transition them away from talking about the album in the next minute, she could do this flawlessly _and_ stick the promotion.

“Oh, there were rumors Roxie had been spotted in Hammerlocke, would that be your doing.”

“Mayyybeee,” Klara crooned. “We _may_ have had a scone and a chat, maybe an impromptu recording session here or there. I guess people will just have to buy the album to find out.”

“Well if that isn’t tantalizing. And what about rumors she was also seen in Spikemuth? Would you happen to know about that?”

Klara soured. Spikemuth, that filthy little town. Sure she knew; Roxie was working on a collaboration with Piers, a rock opera of some sort by the sounds of things. It’d be unprofessional to speak about it though, and she didn’t want to give any attention to the place where that… _trolip_ lived. Little miss perfect traveling around with the disgusting groupies. Sent shivers up Klara’s spine thinking about those unwashed… _pigs_ honestly.

Everyone thought she was ‘so nice, so sweet, oh, let’s dote on her, give her an entire town as a following for free.’ What made _her_ so perfect, huh? And the way she was so meek, how many times had Klara told her to speak up! She was a gym leader now! Act like it! It baffled her why _everyone_ was so caring towards her. Even Slowbro had proven traitorous, freely eating from food she handed him, so much so Klara suspected he liked the gym leader over herself.

These thoughts blinked away when she realized she hadn’t answered yet. Gillian was just beginning to cock her head to the side when Klara finally answered.

“Sorry, I was just parsing my memory,” Klara said, waving the concern away. “I wouldn’t know. After working with her you begin to realize Roxie’s really not the kind of girl you can keep track of. I mean, have you _seen_ her hair. Tried to give her some grooming tips and she laughed in my face.” Klara struggled to maintain her smile; remembering how unpleasant being around Roxie was made it difficult. The woman was rambunctious and free spirited and ground on every gear Klara had. When she’d reached out to do more songs for Klara’s next album, she had almost been shut down hard. Were it not for their single selling so well Klara would have hung up there and then, but Roxie had been so enthused and the numbers so high it was hard to refuse.

“Speaking of hard girls to keep track of, how well have you been keeping up with the current champion’s season? Considering how she’s one of your most vocal fans and you two trained together on the Isle of Armour, I’d think you’d have some thoughts on her more recent matches.”

Ah, here it was, a golden opportunity to shed this stupid smile and get her plan moving. She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, pouting.

“I haven’t really had the time. I’ve been so busy with this new album and the news tours I only get snippets. I hope she’s doing well?”

A blatant lie, she kept up on what Gloria was doing weekly. It’s just the last match hurt to watch.

“That’s surprising, the exhibition matches with the other gym leaders have been plastered everywhere in Galar for weeks. Last night she had one of the most exciting fights we’ve seen yet with Spikemuth’s gym leader Marnie, surely you heard about it.”

Klara’s lips twitched towards a grimace but she pushed it down, her grinding teeth begging for the woman to not mention the tart from Spikemuth again. She needed to deflect.

“Unfortunately, no I didn’t get the chance. It was close I take it? None of the other competitors give her a run, as normal?”

No sooner had she finished her sentence than she recalled the _other_ popular match during the exhibition.

“Well, the former Champion’s younger brother showed up for a pretty close fight too. Not quite _as_ close, but people swear they saw Gloria sweating.”

Right. Hop. The idiot. The boy had a modest following as a trainer, one he didn’t even bother cultivating, skating by on his brother’s name and his looks. He was lucky those had begun to mature in the last few years, he could only get by on the clueless kid act for so long. It was clear Leon had gotten all the talent because all Hop was good at was shouting about his journey beginning. Back when Gloria’s friends actually had time to be together, he was always the one dragging her and the others off to do some stupid activity when it was pretty clear everyone just wanted to relax.

Maybe that’s why she always appreciated that Bede guy from Balloonlea. She probably knew him the least, mostly because they shared a joint disinterest in each other. At least he was transparent about it. He was still a tool like the rest of them, but he didn’t hide it behind one of those sickeningly sweet facades. It was refreshing.

She didn’t need anyone being nice to her for Gloria’s sake; not the floosy, not the dunce and not the asshole.

“Well he always has an… _interesting_ team, to say the least,” Klara finally responded. “He’s got his talents so I’m sure it was entertaining. It’s a shame I didn’t get to watch.”

“It really is. It’s probably going to up as some of the battling highlights of the year. Well, if you’re not keeping up on battling in the news, what are you doing in your free time these days?”

“I don’t get out of my studio much these days.” Klara frowned. Okay girl, waterworks. She let a tear drip down her cheek. “Actually, it’s been… I feel like I don’t have a lot of time for myself anymore.”

She wiped at the tear with her coat, smearing a touch of foundation and eyeliner on it. A shame to ruin such a nice jacket, but she had four of them back at home.

“Oh dear,” Gillian cooed. It was hollow. It always was from these hosts. “That sounds terrible. Maybe you should think about taking some time off.”

Klara sniffed and laughed, brushing a tear that escaped her other eye. “I mean, I’d love to but I can’t just let my fans down like that, you know? I feel like maybe I’ve bitten off a little more than I can chew…”

It hurt her pride to admit that openly, but it would play well for the sympathy card, and she could already see the host being sucked in. Hopefully the audience would follow suit.

Gillian gave her a raised brow, reaching out a hand on the desk. “Celebrity life is pretty taxing, but I don’t think anyone would blame you for taking a break.”

Hollow. Why did everything this blonde bimbo say feel like staring into the back of a Shedinja?

Klara took the offered hand, cold and clammy as it was. “You know how it is? It’s almost like it’s never enough. Sing, perform, record, promote, it just cycles over and over and it’s so draining. I feel like I never give people enough, like… I’m not enough. I’m never enough…”

Okay, wait, that was a little too much. Maybe she should dial back on the tears.

“It hurts, I’m never good enough for _anyone_.”

Where is _that_ coming from? Klara shivered, her breathing more rapid and shallow. The droop began to wear on her eyelids again and her fingers twitched toward the compact in her jacket only to stop short. She… she couldn’t just whip that out on air, she shouldn’t _need_ it, she’d just had some ten minutes ago, this was the _good_ _stuff_ , it lasted for an hour at _least_.

“Uh, Klara, this sounds rather perso-”

“Is it personal if everyone knows it?” Klara snapped. She stared out into the shadowy audience, the mass cold, unresponsive. “I’m not good enough. Not for Galar, not for Roxie, not for Gloria, not for myself…” Klara laughed, her vision blurring behind tears inked with eyeliner. This… wasn’t what she intended. She’d planned to peel a bit of the mask back, just enough for the sympathy, but this was… these were things she’d only ever admitted in those quiet nights in bed, watching as the analytics of her last single came in.

Hollow, just like everything else.

The fingers on Klara’s right hand clawed into her left palm. “You know when we first met, I _hated_ her. Gloria. Actually, most people. Hell, I kinda hate _you_ right now.” Gillian recoiled and, _god,_ was that satisfying. The first genuine reaction of the night from either of them. It felt so good she just kept going. “I hate the way they look at me, every single one. They know what I am, just some fraud to pity while she spins in circles chasing a figurative Pokémon she’ll never catch. That’s all it’s ever been; pity. Even from Gloria.”

Gillian was trembling and for some reason that was very cathartic. And then the woman attempted to open her mouth.

“B-but isn’t Glori-”

“’My biggest fan’, right?” Klara sneered. “She’s my biggest fan? Go ahead, say it, I’d be nothing with out her, right?” Klara’s fists fell to her chair’s arms, startling everyone in the studio. “It’s what everyone is thinking, isn’t it? I’m just riding her coattails and everyone is humoring me!”

Gillian clearly wanted to speak, but again Klara cut her off.

“No, _shut up_ , not a single person gives a damn about me. It’s only because Gloria pitied me that I started to actually succeed. Why _else_ would she promote me? Did you know I _cheated_ against her? Yeah, grade A student to the dojo back then, and I _still_ lost and she was still nice to me? Why? Why any of it?” She stood from her seat, waving an arm at the audience for emphasis. “I’m a _terrible_ person! _Everyone_ can see that, and yet here she is trying to be miss goody-two-shoes! I’m just a shallow piece of trash, why would anyone want to actually be friends with me?”

Why was Roxie so excited to work together again? Why did Marnie always offer her food when they ate together? Why was Hop so insistent that she be a part of the group when they went off together? Why did Bede always offer the best advice when she was practicing with Weezing? What are they all playing at? If Gloria was really Klara’s friend why was she so damned busy without her?

At this rate Klara was choking over her own breath, snot dribbling down her lip and mixing with the stream of tears on her cheeks. This was too much. Too much. The room was beginning to spin. She fumbled for her compact, tearing it out of her jacket. She opened the compartment inside to find the white powder, still in its tiny baggy, and was washed with a wave of relief.

A stray glance to the audience made that relief recede like the surf, her skin cold and sobering.

The compact in her hand burned and in an instant it was in pieces on the floor, the baggy ripped and the fine grains spilling into the carpet. Klara stared at the mess, her throat gagging on the air trying to escape her lungs. Copper graced her tongue as something warm and thick dripped down from her nose.

Her legs fell out from under her, her ass landing on the floor in short order.

“I…” Klara croaked. Every muscle in her face twitched erratically, dozens of feelings conflicting to make themselves known. “I want my friends.” She curled into a ball, hugging her knees, eyes gripped firmly on the compact. “I miss my friends.”

Her eyes glanced over the shadowy audience and very quickly that darkness consumed her.

* * *

Klara fluttered her eyes, blinking away the daylight.

Only three days and she was already sick of how white everything in the hospital was. It made sunlight a pain. Didn’t help unsettling buzzing beneath her skin or the distant headache that refused to recede. Soon enough they were going to wean her off the medicine they’d been giving her so she could actually sleep, and that was going to be a pain and a half to deal with. Sighing, Klara resigning herself to wakefulness like she’d done the last two days, shifting to sit up.

“You’ve really gotten mucked up, haven’t you?”

Klara craned her head towards the voice, surprised to find someone already seated beside her bed. She met a pair of hazel eyes and fell back on her pillow, releasing a noncommittal hum from her throat.

“I wasn’t aware they let visitors in this early, especially when the patients are still asleep.”

Gloria bobbed her head to the side, her smile thinning out just a bit. “Ye, but not everyone who comes through here is the champ, ye know?” The smaller girl leaned towards the bed, resting her arms on the plastic barriers. “Haw’re ya holdin’ up? I’d be radge if I were locked in here.”

“It’s okay,” Klara breathed. She nodded to the flat screen on the wall across from her. “I get the telly at least. Unfortunately, there isn’t much on there I want to watch right now…” Too many news stations covering her breakdown. A few days ago she thought she’d be on a beach somewhere, sipping a martini, watching the news on her phone and appreciating her own acting ability. Now she was so desperate to get away she settled for Cedar the Cyndaquill on one of the kid’s stations.

Gloria nodded and leaned back in her chair. “Yehhh… that… that was somethin’.” The girl’s face became locked in concentration, distant, like she was mulling something over. Then the quiet broke. “They wouldn’ tell me what it was that happened.”

Klara thought back to her first day in the hospital. Overdose, they’d said. Apparently three lines inside a few hours was her limit. She’d gotten a chuckle out of that. How many times had she flirted with that cliff and never gone over? Too many. Any was already too many, but too many beyond even that.

“I… fell in with some bad…” Klara’s words were slow, calculated. Lies and buffers. She stopped. “Ah hell, I’m not going to step around it. Drugs. I overdid it.”

The Champion hummed and Klara felt a little uncomfortable. This was Gloria when she was thinking deeply. As goofy and childish as she acted, petulantly dragging friends around and throwing herself into harms way, there was a stern maturity to her that belied that nature.

“An’ the things ye said?”

Klara swallowed.

“You heard all that? I thought for sure they’d cut the cameras at some point.”

“Heard enough of it.” Gloria pulled off her tam o’ shanter and rest it on the second seat in the room. She leaned to Klara’s hand and braced her palms over the idol’s knuckles, carefully maneuvering around the IV sticking out of her arm. “Did-did ye really think I was just pityin’ you?”

Klara pulled her hand away but was surprised to find it stuck in place, Gloria’s hand becoming a vice around it. One look to her eyes told Klara all she needed to know; there was no escape from the question. She couldn’t hold the Champion’s gaze.

“How could I not?” Klara croaked, the words choppy and coarse. “Every time I look at you, I just hop back to the Fields of Honor when you trounced me the first time. This whole time I wanted to clean that smirk off your face and… I never did. I even tried to swindle you out of the dojo and you just threw it back in my face with a clean sweep. Why would you keep trying to be my friend after that? Why would you _support_ me after that?”

Gloria was pensive after that, lips thin and eyes focused forward.

“Remember the Warm-Up Tunnel? When we went lookin’ fer Max ‘shrooms?”

“Yeah, I…” Klara scratched at her cheek. “Kind of embarrassing to look back on it, you found those mushrooms way before I did.”

“I did. And I still let ye battle me for ‘em. An’ then what happened when ye lost?”

Klara sunk into the bed. “You got there first and earned Master Mustard’s praise…”

A finger found itself between her eyebrows, a gentle prod rocking her forehead back a fraction of an inch.

“Nah, what happened is ye let me have those ‘shrooms fair’n’square. Then ye ran off an’ _somehow_ , in the span o’ just an hour, ye gathered just as many ingredients that’d taken me half a day ta find. That was the moment I think I really decided I wanted ta be yer friend.”

Klara blinked. “W-what?”

“Yeah, Ol’ Mustard an’ I talked about you a touch. He was worried about you, on account of all yer talent an’ how lazy you were with it. When I thought about how well ye did on the second trial after I beat you, I couldn’t’ve agreed more. I saw a lass with all the talent in the world and not a single fire under her ass. Then I learn yer a singer on top o’ that? I wasn’t givin’ faint praise out there, you’ve got a magic voice Klara, ye just stopped short promoting eight copies of yer album! Ye were lazy as hell, so if it meant harpin’ on how much I love yer work to get you ta do more, I would!”

Gloria drifted back to the chair, taking her hand with it, slowly. “I jus’… I didn’t know ye thought I was pityin’ you. If I’d of known, I… Well, don’ know what I’d do, but I’d give it my best shot so ye didn’t feel the way ya did.”

Klara’s skin crawled with fatigue, the muscles in her legs beginning to cramp. Biting through the discomfort, she decided to speak, “Talent doesn’t excuse how terrible I am.”

“Don’ get me wrong, you’ve got yer coarse points. Could stand ta be more honest about things instead of biting it with sarcasm or lies. But you’ve never been outright monstrous to anyone. An’ that bloody tongue o’ yours makes ye a riot to talk to when yer bein’ nice. Don’t shortchange yerself.”

Finally taking a chance, Klara looked into Gloria’s eyes and for the first time she saw it. Compassion. Fondness. _Warmth_.

“I’m an idiot,” she sniffed.

“Aye, but I think we all are.” Gloria smiled. “Even Bede has his moments.”

Feeling a pressure on the back of her throat, Klara opened her mouth and a strangled sob finally escaped, followed quickly by a second, and a third, and a flood of tears. Gloria’s hand found hers for a second time and she surprised both of them by dragging the champion into a tight hug. Well, as tight as a braced bed and an IV drip would let her.

For her part, Gloria brushed at Klara’s back and let the idol cry into her cardigan.

“I’m sorry for not bein’ there for ya. I thought it was just stress weighin’ on you, I honestly did.”

Klara let a bark of laughter out, a bubble of bitter humor in her river of misery. “Not like I knew much better,” she wheezed. “There’s a lot of things I don’t want to think about.”

The idol pulled away and dropped back to the bed, pulling up one of the sheets to dry her cheeks.

“Well ye don’t have ta do it alone anymore, least if you don’ want to. I’ve always got an ear for you, though I’m not usually this good with emotions an’ stuff. Hop’s better with keepin’ positive, so he’s probably a better option… Though, might recommend Marn instead, she’s better at keepin’ things quiet when ye want ‘em quiet…”

Klara sniffed to better clear her nose. “Thanks, really.” A moment later, her eyes fell dark. “Though, if you’re trying to make it sound like you’re all _not_ pitying me…” A punch to her shoulder brought her out of her shady daze. “Ow! You didn’t have to hit me!”

“That I did! Pity ain’t a bad thing when it’s from friends! You’ll accept this pity an’ you’ll grow from it, you got that?”

“Okay, okay,” Klara pleaded, rubbing her sore shoulder. If anything, that at least killed some of that crawling sensation under her skin.

“So, how long they got’cha in here for?”

Klara hummed and put a finger to her chin. “Well, they wanted me in here for about four days of observation before they move me to… uh… well, _rehab_. So I’ve got about one more here.” She scratched at her forearm. “I… needed this, I think. I want, uh, _it_ right now, but it’s not _unbearable_ like I’ve always heard about. Maybe I’m resilient, maybe I just didn’t go too far, maybe I just haven’t hit the worst of it yet, but whatever the reason I know I don’t _want_ that stuff anymore. There’s a lot I _thought_ I wanted that I… I don’t know if I do, anymore.” Biting her lip, she looked to her hands, her index finger poking into it’s opposing palm. Her lips twitched and her throat felt dry. The words wouldn’t shape on her tongue, but with an extra ounce of willpower she pushed them out.

“I need help…”

It was almost a whisper, but Gloria cupped their hands together.

“You’ve got it.”

* * *

Klara fluttered her eyes, looking at herself in the screen.

She pulled the collar of her white blouse a little bit, giving her neck a touch more breathing room. A breath and her fingers twitched towards her pocket, towards the compact. Or, at least where it used to be. A mental scold and the fingers stopped. When will that reflex fade, she wondered? So long and still it was a part of her.

A hand rested over the restless digits and she looked up to meet Gloria’s doe-eyed stare. The champion gave her a small smile and a nod, and it was all Klara needed.

Returning her eyes to the screen, Klara pressed the ‘Start’ key on the program. The live stream started.

“…”

Klara’s lips opened, but no sound came out. Steadying her breathing, she tried again.

“Hey everyone, long time, no see!” A smile wormed its way to her face. It was weak and floundering, but it was genuine. “I know it’s been a long year for my fans out there, though I think everyone knows _why_ I haven’t been active. I’m sorry for not really keeping you all in the loop, but I needed some time to myself.”

She brushed a lock of pink hair behind her shoulder. She’d considered letting the dye fade out, let her chestnut hair return, but the more she contemplated it the more it stuck with her how integral the bubblegum hair was to who she was, with or without the anchors that weighed her down.

“I know I made a bit of a stir on Gillian’s show last year, and I’ve gotten so many messages and letters from fans sending me well wishes and I’m just… touched. Really. What I said on that show, I wasn’t lying, so to see all this support…” Klara stifled the urge to cry. She managed to wrangle the tears, but it left her eyes glistening. “I never appreciated just how good you’ve all been. I feel like-no, I _have_ taken all of you for granted and I wanted to say thank you, so much, from the bottom of my heart.”

She let the statement hang, only to feel a squeeze on her hand. A glance over to Gloria found that same radiant smile.

“And that’s why I think I’m going to start doing something new with these live streams. I… In rehab we had a lot of lessons about getting through tough times, and I want to be more upbeat about things than I’ve been in the past. I want people to come here and be able to relax, have fun, and learn about how to handle the stress in their lives. And I think my first advice should be the one most important to me now: friends!”

Klara pulled her hand away from Gloria and then reached behind the girl’s shoulder, pulling the champ into a half hug and dragging her on the camera.

“Ehy! Not so rough Klara!” the girl laughed.

“Oh, come off it you! You can best me nine times out of ten, you can handle a little rough housing!” Klara giggled back.

“What’s this about nine times out o’ ten? Best me _once_ and we’d be talkin’ out o’ hundre-!”

“We’ll be meeting a two more of my friends from Postwick and Spikemuth later,” Klara said, stymying Gloria’s words. She gave the brunet an emphatic shake. “But for now, everyone, say hello to Galar’s champion, Gloria, who’s my best friend in the whole world!”

“’Ello every one!” Gloria chimed. “Hope yer all havin’ a good one out there!”

“Of course they are!” Klara preened, laughing. “They’re watching two of the most beautiful girls in all of Galar right now, they should feel blessed.”

Gloria snorted and shoved her away. “Have ya seen the average Galar girl; we ain’t exactly topin’ _anyone’s_ charts. Sayin’ that is talkin’ keech!”

“Oh my, Gloria, you must learn how averages work, we raise the bar just by existing.” Klara swooned, lavishing her voice with a thick, posh accent.

“Cheeky ain’t ya?”

“Cheekier than a Skwovet, and you know it.”

Gloria laughed. Klara laughed. And if the chat scrolling on the screen was anything to go by, her audience was having a field day. There was that shadowy pit in Klara’s stomach that still hasn’t quite vanished, but for now it was being drowned in rays of gold.

The doorbell rang. Gloria hopped to her feet.

“Must be Marn an’ Hop. I’ll go get’em!”

Klara leaned back in her chair and watched the champion scamper down her apartment hallway. Her grin grew more Cheshire as she shouted, “Don’t spend too much time flustering around Marnie or else you owe me dinner, you hear me?”

The reply bounced back at her from around the apartment’s walls. “Shut it ya dobber!”

Klara gasped, “Gloria, this is a family program!”

“I already used ‘keech’, catch up on yer slang ye ol’ bat!!”

“Who are you calling bat, you tosser!”

“Ah, ya know ya love me!”

And she did. Her, and Hop, and Marnie, and Roxie, and Nessa, and Piers, and even Bede. A year ago she was focused so much on herself; now she had so many more people to care about. The smile never left Klara’s lips, even as she leaned forward and looked straight into the camera to roll her eyes.

“What can I say?” Klara shrugged. “She’s not wrong."

**Author's Note:**

> Klara would then go on to open an Only-Fans.
> 
> I joke, I joke.
> 
> Someone please give Klara a hug. She was such a striking character to me. At first I hated her design but then I fell in love with it, and then when I got a taste of that sour personality *Chef Kiss* Delicious! Pokemon needs more assholes that aren't blatant villains, honestly. And the fact it was all driven by this kind of nebulous almost depressive need for fame and popularity without any of the work? That got my brain juices working. 
> 
> And yes, I gave Gloria a Scottish Accent. Just be glad this is the "No True Scotsman" version. Before this it was almost painful to read according to my friend and before I even sent it to her it was nigh illegible. This is the accent toned down TWICE.
> 
> Okay, I've procrastinated enough, back to Fixing RWBY Part 6. There's another fic on the spoke sometime in the near-ish future, another Fire Emblem: Three Houses one, Ingrid/Dorothea if that interest anyone. Keep your eyes peeled for that.
> 
> Until then, catch you all on the flipside!


End file.
